Separation
by AiiroNaomi
Summary: Three completely different children become close friends in elementary school. After their last year there, one friend is left in Konoha while the others either move or change schools. Years pass by and they reunite again. Now what will happen next?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **Okay, chapter 1 was actually much, _much_ shorter than this so I edited it. The first chapter that you're about to read right now is a combination of the former chapters 1, 2, and 3.

Btw, this is my _first_ fanfiction so please enjoy! R&R :)

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><p><strong>Introduction:<strong>

Three little children were destined to be the best of friends ever since birth. They were all different from their appearances to their personalities and interests. They didn't simply meet each other, knowing their fate. The friendship of these three children began back in kindergarten. Two boys and one girl were placed in the same class with the same teacher, Iruka-sensei.

**Kindergarten:**

The very first day of school always appeared as scary to most kids. The thought of even leaving their mothers for seven hours was terrifying enough. However, one little boy didn't think so. Sasuke Uchiha entered Iruka-sensei's classroom with a serious expression, wearing a gray long-sleeved shirt that bared his family's crest with a pair of solid black shorts. For a beautiful summer morning, Sasuke sure dressed up to match the opposite of it.

Following behind the boy was a small group of troublemaking boys: Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, and Kiba Inuzuka. The three boys were all previous friends and liked to wreak havoc amongst other groups of children – especially girls their age. For silly, immature pranks, they sure were successful thanks to the group's brilliant mastermind, Shikamaru.

As usual, the troublemakers chose a spot near the girls. They found desks near two cute students, one having hair the color of a Japanese cherry blossom tree. It definitely made her stand out from the rest of the kindergarteners in the room. Choji, a plump lover of anything fried or barbequed, threw a crumpled potato chip bag at the other little girl's head.

"Gross, Choji!" Ino Yamanaka cried, checking her blond hair for any grease or oil. She didn't want to argue with anyone on her first day of school so Ino turned away with disgust and continued to talk about the dreamy, mysterious Sasuke with the pink-haired friend. As they discussed his "cool and laidback" appearance, the boys close by rolled their eyes, envying Sasuke for stealing the girls' attention away from their childish pranks.

All of the conversations were interrupted when the school bell rang. Iruka Umino, the class's teacher, arrived late, holding the wrist of a blond boy wearing goggles on top of his head. As the student walked in, he held a mischievous grin and chuckled underneath his breath. The boy took his seat at Sasuke's table and Iruka-sensei began his introduction.

"Welcome, kids, to the Academy! I'm Iruka Umino, your teacher, but please call me Iruka-sensei. I'm sure that all of you will enjoy my class and your first year as kindergarteners. Let's all introduce ourselves by saying our name and something interesting about us. Pink-haired girl, you start," the man said, pointing over to the student.

"Um," she hesitated. "My name is Sakura Haruno and I, um, have pink hair." The entire class laughed at her shyness. One kid even told her to say something less obvious, thus making Sakura's cheeks blush as red as the bow on her head. Iruka-sensei didn't laugh. Instead, he just nodded and instructed the next student to continue.

"Hi! I'm Ino Yamanaka and I want to be a florist like my mom," Sakura's friend said cheerfully, flashing her toothy smile at everyone. The class seemed to like her more than Sakura by the looks of a few boys who were gazing at Ino's cuteness and self-confidence. Sakura huffed under her breath.

Following Ino was Choji, and then the introductions continued onto Shino Aburame, who owned a bug collection, to Hinata Hyuuga, who didn't get a chance to say anything because she stuttered too much. When it was Sasuke's turn, he cocked his head up arrogantly and said that his father owned a successful company. However, he didn't speak as if he was proud of his father, but spoke as if it annoyed him.

"Wow," cooed the female students in admiration to Sasuke's cool demeanor. This caused all of the boys to again roll their eyes at Sasuke's popularity. To end the introductions, the blond boy stood up. Rather than telling his classmates what his name was, he decided to dash out of the classroom, snickering the entire time. From the end of the hallway, he called the teacher a sucker and let out a wild chuckle. Iruka-sensei blinked in confusion before following after the boy, leaving the class dumbfounded.

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><p>Ten minutes later, Iruka-sensei strolled back inside, whistling, while holding the careless student by the collar. He took him over to his original seat and plopped him down. The rest of the class laughed and giggled at him, calling him a sucker like he did to the teacher. Growing furious, the boy stood up and yelled, "I'm not a sucker! I'm Naruto!" Iruka-sensei obviously looked tired of his interruptions and grabbed the class's attention by whistling.<p>

Continuing his lessons, Iruka-sensei assigned a "get to know you" project for the kids. He picked three students per group, starting off by putting Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto together. At the thought of working with Naruto, Sakura groaned and held a frown. Sasuke didn't look any different from when the bell rang. He shrugged indifferently and followed orders.

After all of the groups were determined, the teacher handed each group a worksheet that displayed a plethora of pictures. He explained that if any member of a group took an interest in that picture, he or she was to circle it and label it with his or her first name. "Since this is really easy, you all should be able to finish within twenty minutes. If any group doesn't complete the worksheet by then, they'll have to stay behind during recess and clean the room," he warned.

When Sakura joined Sasuke and Naruto's table, no one spoke. Actually, Sakura couldn't talk because all she was doing was staring at Sasuke while he turned away in annoyance. He could care less about the project. Meanwhile, Naruto was picking his nose while sleeping.

Fifteen minutes later, Iruka-sensei passed by Naruto's group. He stopped in his tracks to alert the three kids how little time left they have. If they want to play and take a break, they had to finish the worksheet in five minutes. Sakura blinked out of her trance and recognized a puddle of drool formed from staring at Sasuke. Blushing, she quickly wiped her desk and grabbed the worksheet, rolling it up. "Naruto!" she shouted, hitting his head with it. Then she slapped his hand away from his face. "Uh, Sasuke-kun, I think we should work on this," suggested Sakura.

"Work on what, Billboard Brow?" asked Naruto, referring to Sakura's abnormally wide forehead. Sakura, humiliated, punched the boy right in his booger-filled nose. Her hit left a red mark on his face that stung. "Ouch! That hurts," he said as he rubbed his nose.

"You obviously didn't hear Iruka-sensei, Naruto," started Sakura. "We only have less than five minutes to finish our project. If we don't, we'll have to skip recess and clean the room. I don't know about you, but I want to have fun."

Sasuke took the worksheet right out of the girl's hands and filled it out on his own. Finally, he spoke. "Why don't you both shut up? It'll get the job done much faster."

"Unfortunately, it won't get it done fast enough," the teacher interrupted. "Time's up, kids! And it seems to me that we only have one group that didn't finish. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke get to stay inside and clean while the rest of us enjoy our time outside." Everyone snickered as they got up and headed for the door right when the break time bell rang.

"Now as for you three, you are to dust off those bookshelves, collect all of the papers, clap my chalkboard erasers, and put those ten stacks of books back on the shelves. Have fun!" ordered Iruka-sensei, waving goodbye to join his class.

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><p>"This is your entire fault, Naruto! Or should I call you Kyuubi?" Sakura referred to a Japanese legend about a nine-tailed demon fox that caused destruction wherever it went. Her blame angered Naruto and irritated Sasuke. Sakura saw Sasuke's expression and quickly said, "Uh, I mean, go collect the worksheets. We have a lot to do." The blond boy mimicked her voice, raising it an octave higher to tease Sakura. Fortunately for Naruto, she didn't hear anything or else she would've decked him again.<p>

Naruto collected the papers from each group's table and placed them on the teacher's desk. He saw other papers scattered across it and decided to plop down in Iruka-sensei's chair and read through his belongings. Using a red pen, Naruto doodled in the margins of the papers. Surrounding each page were drawings of the teacher in a modicum of predicaments like getting fed to sharks or being trapped in a room with wild bears gone berserk. The boy's giggle caught Sakura's attention. She paused her dusting to check out Naruto's progress. Even she stifled a giggle after seeing the pictures.

Now it was Sasuke's turn to be curious. During the break, he sat back lazily in his chair, not contributing to the cleanup. He then walked over to the others and a quiet 'heh' came from his mouth which, for him, was the closest thing to a real laugh. "The pictures aren't amusing enough," Sasuke criticized. He suggested that Iruka-sensei's facial expressions should be changed to match the situation he was drawn in.

"Um, are you kidding me, Mr. Popular? These drawings are golden!" Naruto praised himself. Sasuke shook his head, taking a pencil and one of the sheets from Naruto's grasp. He erased the doodled teacher's mouth and replaced it with a zigzag line, showing what he'd look like if really electrocuted by a thunder storm. Naruto accepted the suggestion and returned the papers back to his teacher's desk. The group went back to tidying up the room as if nothing happened except this time, Sasuke helped Naruto clap erasers.

"Your doodles were actually really good, but it's missing something. I think I can help out a bit," said Sasuke to Naruto. Naruto blinked multiple times, wondering if Sasuke was really saying what he was saying. Sakura also heard Sasuke's remark. She noticed him from the minute she stepped inside the classroom. He looked like the type of person that would constantly mourn over someone's death. He was so dark, wearing unhappy shades and having bluish black spiked hair. The only thing bright about him was the family crest located on the back of his shirt that resembled his father's successful corporation. It was surprising to hear Sasuke talk in a more lively tone.

_'Does he really want to help me? In drawing? Of all things?'_ Naruto pondered to himself. He faced Sasuke and agreed to his offer, changing the stiff atmosphere among them. Sakura wanted to partake in this lovely friendship that was forming between the two boys, mainly to attract Sasuke and get closer to him. She made a deal with herself that she would attempt to participate in the boys' drawing interest.

By the time recess was over, the group had managed to dust off the bookshelves, collect the "get to know you" worksheets, clap all of the erasers, and reshelf half of the stack of books. Iruka-sensei walked inside the class in awe, wowed at the amount of work the kindergarteners were able to accomplish judging from their age and size. "You three make an excellent team," the teacher complemented. He continued to smile until he found a few of his papers with red doodles in the margins. He looked up and scanned through the kids to find Naruto.

"I knew you of all people would do something like this, Naruto," Iruka-sensei raised his voice, slamming his papers on his desk. "Haven't you caused enough disruptions to the class already? You tried ditching school this morning, attempted to run away later on, and now important papers of mine have been vandalized!"

"Excuse me," Sasuke piped in. "I drew some of those along with him, Sensei." The class grew quiet and stared at Sasuke – not in the good, adoring way either. Ino looked at him as if he was a maniac for defending Naruto. Shikamaru looked at him as if he was demented for simply admitting to something like that when he knew he'd face a consequence. Naruto just looked at Sasuke in confusion, wondering both of those things. However, the confession didn't make the teacher any happier. Instead, it just irritated him some more.

"Oh, I see, Mr. Uchiha. In that case, you _and_ Naruto can stay inside this whole week during our lesson breaks. I'll have a load of tasks ready for you rascals tomorrow," he feigned a grin. Sakura felt that if she didn't say anything, she wouldn't get a chance to hang out with her new crush every day so she also raised her hand and admitted that she was involved too. She received double the amount of looks the students gave Sasuke. Sakura just shrugged her shoulders in reply.

Iruka-sensei could no longer handle the troublemakers in his class and just picked up from where he left off. While his back was turned, Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura huddled together at their table. "That was hilarious! Did you see Sensei's face? I know what to draw tomorrow," Sasuke said to the others with anticipation. It appeared that this whole incident would be the genesis of their friendship.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Heads up - this chapter's rather boring and short. I hope you still like it though! R&R :)

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><p>Days after days passed by and Sasuke and Naruto became inseparable when it came to art. It turned out that Sasuke really had a passion for drawing, but he never showed it for his father wouldn't have approved of such "idiocy." Mr. Uchiha preferred his youngest son to improve his academic skills, even though the child was merely a kindergartener.<p>

As the two children spent more time with together and eventually became best friends, they found more things in common with each other besides drawing. Naruto was relieved at that for he just found doodling as a hobby and wasn't completely serious about it. He discovered that Sasuke disliked the Academy, only wanting to go to get away from his strict father. Naruto felt the same way, except he just wanted to escape his godfather and his perverted jokes. The man was such a creep, in an amusing way. Besides loathing school, the boys enjoyed martial arts. That led them to having a long discussion on the sport.

During the year, Sakura turned into a good friend of theirs. They haven't considered her as a close friend yet, but she's the only female student in the class that Sasuke actually talked to. Because of this, Ino Yamanaka grew envious of the pink-haired girl and challenged her as a rival for their crush's affections. For five year-olds, they competed intensely, with Sakura being in the "lead."

However, Sakura and Ino weren't the only ones who have already liked people in their class. Naruto had the biggest crush on Sakura a week after Iruka-sensei's outburst on their first day of school. After the day of the outburst, Sakura sat at Naruto and Sasuke's table daily. One week later, Sasuke was absent from class, leaving Sakura with only Naruto to talk to. Ever since then, he was determined to eventually win her heart. Just not in kindergarten of course.

"Sakura-chan! Look at what I found for you," Naruto hurriedly came into the classroom one day straight after recess. He had his arms cupped to prevent something from escaping in his hold. Sakura turned around after hearing her friend's voice, holding an indifferent and bored expression on her face.

"What is it, Naruto?" she asked. Before Naruto arrived, she was having a conversation with Sasuke about his drawings, feigning her interest in his artwork and focusing more on his adorable features. _'He makes me wish _I_ was pale,'_ she thought to herself as she just stared and stared at him. Naruto grabbed the seat next to his crush and held out his cupped hands to her emotionless face. Sakura could care less about what Naruto wanted to show her. In fact, she wished that he'd hurry up so she could continue her "intriguing" conversation with Sasuke.

"You'll love it! When I saw it, I immediately thought of you," he said, bouncing up and down with loads of enthusiasm. "It's a pink flow… Ouch!" Naruto shrieked, his pain interrupting him. As he opened his cupped hands, a bumblebee flew out. Located in the middle of his hand was an enlarged, swollen-looking bump – a present from the bee that was held captive. On the other hand as a pink flower that could've blended in with Sakura's hair. "Stupid bee," Naruto huffed to no one in particular.

While Naruto examined his bump, Sakura and Sasuke were laughing in unison. "That's pretty. Thanks, you knucklehead," said Sakura, taking the cherry blossom-colored flower after she could giggle no more. She gave Naruto a genuine smile that made Naruto blush redder than his hand. Sasuke didn't say anything; instead he quickly drew out Naruto's amusing expression on a blank sheet of paper.

As kindergarten year went on, Naruto's attention was on impressing Sakura, which was almost impossible to do since Sasuke seemed so much better than him at everything. He knew about his crush, but didn't help Naruto catch Sakura's eye. He tried multiple things from bringing in chocolates on her birthday to walking her to the playground every day.

"You're going to have to do a lot better than that," Sasuke would comment after all of Naruto's fails. Sometimes, he just drove Naruto mad with remarks like that. He couldn't help that he was "drop-dead handsome" as some of the girls in Iruka-sensei's class would say. He couldn't help that Sasuke was better at drawing and martial arts. That guy was just too good, especially when it came to talking to the pink-haired crush. By this time, they had a close relationship, but Naruto and Sakura's relationship was closer since they talked more.

On the final day of school, Iruka-sensei threw his class a party. The tension between him and Naruto was gone immediately a few weeks after the first day. Iruka-sensei treated the blond boy as if he was his little brother. Naruto needed a person like him in his life with both of parents dead and his godfather/guardian constantly travelling. On days when his perverted godfather was out of town, Naruto spent his time at his neighbor's apartment so she could look after him. Iruka-sensei would then take his student out for ramen on the weekends and catch up on life.

At the party, the kindergarteners celebrated by watching a movie, eating junk food (actually, Choji ate all of the food the minute he walked into class and spotted it), playing games, and just chilling with their friends before summer vacation started. Iruka-sensei cried during the party, claiming that it was because of the movie (which was Toy Story 3) and not because of the fact this it was his last day with his students.

When the afternoon school bell rang, the teacher burst into obnoxiously loud sobs. "You are all wonderful students! Even Naruto," he stifled a chuckle in between cries. "I'll miss you all and hopefully, you'll visit this room when you're first graders." Everyone hugged and said their farewells to Iruka-sensei. They all agreed to stop by and say hello once in a while as they grew. Then, they hugged and said bye to their friends before leaving. Their first year of elementary school was over, and it turned out to be a good one.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **I greatly apologize for my slowness. And laziness, hehe. Here's a longer chapter to make up for it! R&R :)

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><p>Six years later, the students originally in Iruka-sensei's class were no longer his students anymore. In fact, they were all separated this year and had different sixth grade teachers. Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto were in Kakashi Hatake's class. Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino all had Asuma Sarutobi while Shino, Hinata, and Kiba's sensei was Kurenai Yuuhi.<p>

They developed throughout the years, forming friendships with new people. Even Ino managed to be one of Choji Akimichi's best friends, considering how he kept teasing her years ago. The two sixth graders plus Shikamaru Nara became a group of close friends just like Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.

The troublemakers also disbanded their immature and childish ways, focusing on other things like impressing girls. Shikamaru targeted a new girl, Ino, but not to torture. He started liking her just as Kiba developed a crush on Hinata Hyuuga. Sakura continued liking Sasuke while Naruto kept his heart with Sakura. All three were oblivious to the love triangle, unfortunately.

As Sasuke Uchiha grew older, he became more mature. His father was more serious about his corporation now than ever before because Sasuke's older brother, Itachi, refused to be the heir to the business. This meant that Sasuke would have to take after his father's footsteps soon by improving on his academics and dropping the drawing shenanigan. Although Sasuke didn't want to stop doing what he loved, he still had to follow orders obediently. Before, he brought his sketchpad to school daily, but now it was left untouched on his bookshelf.

Because of this, Sasuke also lacked personality. He was seldom the bright and cheery boy that he used to be. He had no trouble socializing with other people, but lately he only talked to his two best friends: Sakura and Naruto. Normally, the thought of Sasuke only talking to one girl thrilled Sakura, but seeing him change every day just saddened her.

"How's your day so far, Sasuke-kun?" she asked him every afternoon with the same wide Sakura grin she always had that could melt Naruto's knees. It never worked on Sasuke, however, but she kept trying. After the question was asked, Sasuke simply shrugged his shoulders then replied usually with a 'fine.' Sure they talked every day, but he stopped sharing personal information on him.

As for Sakura and Naruto's relationship, it gradually improved. She continued teasing and commenting on Naruto's stupidity, but it was merely a joke between two close friends. Since Sasuke lacked the same spirit he had back in kindergarten, Naruto confided in Sakura more than he did with him and vice versa. This led to the two of them knowing so much about each other that they could write an endless biography on one another.

One day, Sakura grabbed a seat next to Naruto and plopped down on the chair. She had an idea for him regarding Sasuke. The plan was simple. They were to surprise their friend to an art museum somewhere in Konoha. Naruto and Sakura have hung out together at various places together, but this would be the first that they'd go with Sasuke. To keep the destination a secret, Naruto would instead ask Sasuke if he wanted to play a game of soccer at the park.

When school ended, Naruto caught up with Sasuke as he made his way out of Konoha Academy. "Yo, Sasuke! I have something to ask!" he shouted enthusiastically.

"What do you want, Naruto? My father's waiting in the car," said Sasuke, pointing towards the Uchiha car behind him. Even though his face showed little interest in whatever his friend had to say, he was filled up with fear on the inside. If he took too long talking to a childish boy, his father would immediately start yelling at Sasuke as soon as he climbed into the sheer black vehicle.

"Well, y-you see," stammered Naruto. He was so excited about the plan that he couldn't get a hold of himself. "Tomorrow's Saturday so do you think you can play soccer or something with me at the park?"

Sasuke stood there, looking as if he didn't even want to consider thinking about going. Inside his mind he thought, _'S-soccer? Of course I want to go… but I can't. Uh, well maybe I can. I don't know.'_ He didn't bother saying his thoughts aloud for he didn't want to lose his apathetic composure. Instead, he replied coolly with a simple 'sure.' If Ino, Sakura, or some other obsessed girl was there, they would've drooled over Sasuke's reply.

Naruto didn't drool over it, but he did give off a huge smile. He was sweating off excitement that left Sasuke disgusted. "That's great! See you tomorrow!" Naruto said. By the time he said this, Sasuke was already on his way to the car. _'Yes! Sakura-chan's going to be happy about this,'_ thought Naruto to himself.

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!" he chanted when he spotted his best friend exiting the school building. She looked up from her stroll and smiled at the sight of Naruto. As always, Naruto warmed up to that beautiful smile of hers and blushed the color of Sakura's scarlet dress. When she walked up to the spiky blond sixth grader, Naruto filled her in with the good news. She bounced up and down at the thought of her plan working as Naruto expected. They bid farewells and left.

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><p>Sasuke Uchiha couldn't believe that he agreed to hang out with Naruto the following day. The two were definitely best friends, but Sasuke knew that his father disapproved of friendships. When growing up, Mr. Uchiha kept quiet to himself, not bothering to mingle or associate with his peers. It amazed his son that the man was able to find a lady to marry – even though it was probably for business or something.<p>

"Oi, Sasuke! Wait up!" Sasuke heard the voice of Naruto calling him from behind. When he saw his friend, he was already a few feet away from the nearby park. Sasuke stopped walking to allow the blond boy catch up.

"Naruto… what are you wearing?" Sasuke questioned Naruto as he jogged towards him, panting and sweating. _'Obviously this guy is sweating. Would you look at him!' _Sasuke thought, eyeing the boy from head to toe. Naruto Uzumaki was wearing a vermillion jumpsuit. On his head rested a pair of goggles. The boy looked like a pilot ready to pick up garbage by the highway.

The Uzumaki looked down at his attire, unsure of why Sasuke would ask such a thing. He thought he looked pretty stylish in his brand new jumpsuit that Kiba Inuzuka suggested that he'd get. Recently, Naruto asked the dog lover why he wore a fur-hooded jacket when summer was so close by. In response, Kiba said, "Chicks dig it. See Hinata? She looks like an Eskimo every day with that enormous jacket so why not impress her with mine?" This made Naruto ponder over his wardrobe and Sakura's taste in clothes which Kiba gladly told him that Sakura would be all over Naruto if he dressed in something bright, like orange.

Naruto took Kiba's advice without hesitation, but the only thing that troubled him a little bit was the fact that he tried to refrain from letting out a chuckle while instructing Naruto on his fashion taste. However, that part didn't matter once Sakura's lively visage popped back into the blonde's head.

"Naruto? Naruto?" Sasuke snapped his fingers and waved his hand in front of Naruto's face, trying to regain his attention. The boy didn't budge, remaining still and lost in his own world of thoughts. Sasuke sighed impatiently, flicking the side of his friend's head.

"Eh? What the heck, Sasuke?" Naruto flinched, obviously back in reality again. He checked his surroundings, and then combed his fingers through his spiky mess of hair. "Oh, hehehe. Sorry about that. I zoned out for a minute there," he said, trying to laugh it off. Unfortunately, Sasuke didn't find it rather funny.

"Can we just go play soccer now?" Sasuke asked, his tone serious. Then, he scanned Naruto from head to toe again, realizing something. "Where's the soccer ball, Naruto?"

Naruto blinked, forgetting what he was supposed to say to Sasuke just in case he noticed that he wasn't carrying a soccer ball with him. _'Ah, crap. Sakura-chan's going to get pissed off at me for this,'_ he thought, pondering over a new excuse. Suddenly, an idea that he found brilliant came to mind as if a light bulb flashed above his head. He grabbed Sasuke's wrist awkwardly, saying, "Uh, I can't explain right now, Sasuke. I really have to go. _If you know what I mean._"

Now, it was the raven-haired boy's turn to blink simultaneously, understanding what Naruto meant by 'having to go.' He tried releasing Naruto's grip on his wrist, but that was a difficult task to do while Naruto was darting off to the nearest restroom, which happened to surprisingly be the one located in the art museum right next to the park.

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><p>"Man, that was refreshing!" exclaimed Naruto as he exited one of the bathroom stalls. Sasuke groaned by the sink, massaging his temples to relieve him from the headache he got when trying to run alongside Naruto. The headache became worse as he heard the ongoing flushing noise coming from Naruto's stall.<p>

"Sorry, Sasuke," Naruto apologized then grinned. He could apologize as many times as he wanted to, but unfortunately, it wouldn't make Sasuke's throbbing head relax. This was his cue to include the art museum in their conversation. "Hey, Sasuke, since we can't play soccer due to your headache, we should probably just chill in the museum," suggested Naruto.

Sasuke leaned against the restroom's wall, considering the suggestion. He had to admit, with an emerging migraine, he couldn't push it by playing a game that involved more running. The thought of hanging out at the art museum wasn't so bad either; he loved art. Sasuke turned to face his best friend, nodding his head in agreement. Seconds later, the duo departed.

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><p>When Naruto and Sasuke emerged from the restrooms, Sakura immediately spotted them from the art museum's entrance. She knew she was late thanks to her mother holding her at home so she could finish her chores first. The first person that she glanced at was Naruto for his blond hair contrasted with the dark colors given off in the building. Not only did his hair stand out, but whatever he was wearing – a jumpsuit she assumed – did too. <em>'I don't think I want to know…'<em> she thought, referring to the peculiar choice of clothing Naruto wore.

After mentally commenting on Naruto's attire, Sakura examined her crush standing beside him. It took Sasuke less than a second to get Sakura drooling and staring at him. She admired his better choice of clothing as he wore his standard Sasuke outfit, consisting of black shorts (this time they were basketball shorts) and a fitted tee (usually in white, gray, or blue).

Sakura stood so still, fantasizing about Sasuke, that a man accidentally bumped into her, thinking that she was one of the museum's statues. The man appeared to be in his mid-thirties, had nicely combed black hair, and wore a business suit. He managed to grab Sakura's arm, preventing her from landing face first onto the marble floor. "I'm so sorry, sir!" she stated, bowing her head down in embarrassment. Normally, an adult would've assured her that everything was all right. Instead, this man simply grunted and turned back to his peers.

_'Rude, much?'_ Sakura hissed in her mind, afraid that if she said it out loud, the man would hear her. She wiped her sundress that was covered in a cherry blossom pattern, matching the color of her hair and fixed the corresponding bow on top.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto chanted. Sasuke glanced from Naruto to the distant Sakura, confused. What was Sakura doing here of all places? It was puzzling to Sasuke because he and Naruto arranged plans to play at the park – not at the art museum next door. Yet when they ended up at the museum, Sakura also showed up there. Did the two of them set this up?

"Why are you here, Sakura-chan?" the Uzumaki boy asked, trying to follow with the script that Sakura ordered he memorize when they encountered.

Sakura replied, referring to her mental script, "You two are such great artists that I was envious and decided to pick up some inspiration for my artwork here. I didn't expect you two to be at a museum though. What are the odds of that?"

"Yeah, what are the odds…" Sasuke murmured, crossing his arms in suspicion of his friends. Just when he opened his mouth again to interrogate them about the sudden coincidence, he recognized a familiar figure standing with a group of others a few feet away from Sakura. In a blink of an eye, Sasuke was found hiding behind a statue of some naked man.

"Sasuke-kun, what's wrong?" his pink-haired friend tried comforting him with her calm and silky voice. She fiddled with the strands of her hair, lines forming across her forehead that showed her concern for Sasuke. She sat down next to her crush, patting Sasuke's back.

Naruto then kneeled down on the opposite side of Sakura, making Sasuke stuck in the middle. He, too, tried to comfort his best friend, saying, "Yo, dude, you look freaked out. Did you see a painting of Kakashi-sensei naked or something?" Sakura giggled with Naruto at his joke while Sasuke remained silent, trembling as he hugged his knees to his chest.

"Um, what startled you, Sa—"

"Can you just shut the hell up, Sakura?" interrupted Sasuke, not giving a second thought at what he said to the now frightened girl, even when her bright green eyes started tearing up.

"Cool it, Sasuke. You're acting like a drama queen or something. Now what's the matter here?" Naruto asked, anger coloring his face red. He tried to shake off Sasuke's sudden rudeness.

Sasuke broke away from his knee-hugging position to give Naruto a stern look. "I don't know if you saw that guy over there, but he's my father. And he's going to kill me for being here if he catches me," he whisper-scolded. Naruto didn't know how to reply to that. He understood that Mr. Uchiha banned his youngest son from basically everything fun and interesting, but he didn't get why Sasuke couldn't just stand up to him. It was no big deal, right?

Wrong.

Apparently, Sasuke's dad had military experience back in high school so if Itachi or Sasuke Uchiha tried to defy him, they would get their ass whooped by him. He was not the right person to disobey.

This led to the group's decision of hopping behind large structures and statues until they reached the building's exit. That way, the three of them could sneak away from an encounter with Mr. Uchiha.

Minutes later, the plan was put to action with Sakura leading the group, Naruto following behind, and Sasuke at the end. After two statues and a Swiss cheese-looking "masterpiece," the three were doing well. That is, until Naruto squatted behind the fourth figure, unintentionally releasing gas from his butt. The sound he made echoed throughout the building, exposing everyone's location.

"Oopsies," Naruto whispered, snickering. Patrons examining the exhibits eyed the disturbing boy with disgust. Sakura slapped Naruto across the face, a common action whenever his idiocy got the best of him. Sasuke, on the other hand, was frantically searching the area for his father, who was nowhere to be found. Just when he sighed in relief, he heard his father's voice boom, "Sasuke, what are you doing on the floor? At an art museum? With _them_?"

Sasuke shot right up in response, fear taking over his body. Once he got a good hold of himself, he tried explaining his reasons for being there. "And then my, uh, _acquaintance_, Naruto, desperately needed to use the restroom so here we are, Father," Sasuke ended. His father's eyes bore into Sasuke's black ones, not breaking away from the gaze.

"Hmm, is that so, Son?" Mr. Uchiha asked, still eyeing Sasuke.

"Yes, Father," he replied meekly, shocking both Sakura and Naruto. The pair never thought that they would witness their friend's weak side.

"Well, then who cares, right?" Mr. Uchiha… _chuckled_. He cleared his throat, continuing, "Actually, it's a good thing you're here, Sasuke. Now I have a chance to share you my excellent news regarding my corporation. Just a while ago, I was discussing some things about expanding the Uchiha business with the art museum's manager, who is a full supporter. He volunteered to give us a generous donation to support the funding for the expansion, meaning…" The man trailed off, raising suspense around the area.

"Meaning… we're taking the business to Otogakure!" Sasuke's dad concluded.

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke stood still, surrounding the businessman. Clearly, they had no idea what he was droning on about with the whole Uchiha business thing. Silence stirred amongst the people until Sasuke broke it.

"What?" he asked bluntly.

"Son, we're moving!" the man cheered.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** This chapter ends the three's elementary days - FINALLY. I know you guys are getting impatient with me, hehe. Well... R&R :)

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><p>For the next couple of days, all Sakura was thinking about was the bad news Sasuke's father revealed at the art museum. She lied in bed, sobbing at the thought of Sasuke moving at the end of the school year, which was at the end of the week. They were friends for a good seven years and Mr. Uchiha was jeopardizing their friendship! Not to mention any potential chance of Sasuke ever falling in love with the pink-haired girl.<p>

_'This is stupid.' _Sakura snorted, punching her wall. The punch resulted in her cursing underneath her breath at the pain, knuckles slightly bleeding.

"Ouch…" she said to herself, getting up off the bed. There was no use in lying down and crying about Sasuke right now. Doing that wouldn't remove the pain located in her knuckles so she walked off to her bathroom in search of something to resolve her problem.

"There we go!" Instead of rummaging through her cluttered medicine cabinet, Sakura took a damp paper towel and cleaned up the blood off of her hand. While she did this, she was thinking, _'Sasuke-kun's _definitely_ going to miss out on this once he moves. Whenever he injures himself in martial arts or gets a cut, he won't have me to help heal him or anything. Oh wait.'_

Sakura's thought process paused for a moment, realizing something. _'If Sasuke-kun moves and I'm not around, a bunch of other girls will be over him the minute they spot him, volunteering to be his caretaker or something. This can't happen!'_

And with that, the petite sixth grader exited her bathroom and made her way back to her bedroom. She plopped down on her bed, thoughts swirling around in her mind. Otogakure was at least three thousand miles away from Konoha, meaning that visiting Sasuke every day was out of the picture. And since such a city was so far away, Sasuke would be attracted to the foreign Oto residents there. This made Sakura's green eyes tear up – she needed to find a way to prevent that.

"I suppose Sasuke wouldn't go looking for an Oto girlfriend if he had a long-distance one in Konoha," she now thought aloud, a plan forming in her head. She gave herself a mission (which in her eyes was a very difficult one) to confess her love for Sasuke on the last day of sixth grade – two days from today. If her mission was accomplished successfully, she would win the guy of her dreams (_'take_ that_, Ino!'_ she thought) and wouldn't be so paranoid when he leaves town. It was simply an _ingenious_ idea. Well, at least, to her it was.

* * *

><p>The following Thursday morning, Naruto was found in Kakashi-sensei's classroom (early for once), staring outside the closest window. He didn't make small talk with his lackadaisical teacher because Kakashi-sensei was too absorbed in one of his <em>Icha Icha<em> books, written by Naruto's godfather himself.

The sound of a chair screeching against the tiled floor interrupted Naruto's gaze. Beside him was Sasuke who shifted in his seat until he found it comfortable. Naruto noticed that his hair looked unusually messy that morning. Normally, the jet black hair with a blue tinge was combed and parted perfectly, but today it seemed like Sasuke didn't even bother honing his appearance. Along with unkempt hair, Sasuke's clothes weren't like his usual. It wasn't the actual pieces of clothing that struck Naruto as odd, but rather the smell of them; they smelled like Naruto's laundry after two weeks of not being washed.

"Oh man, you _reek_!" Naruto exclaimed, getting up from his seat and flailing his hand in front of his nose to prevent the stench from making it up there.

Sasuke shot Naruto a deathly glare, silencing his friend from saying anything else that could potentially harm him. Not that he was afraid of fighting his best friend, but all of the fan girls obsessed over him would most likely join forces to injure the blond. "If you must _know_, Naruto, I have to rewear some clothes because most of them are already packed up," Sasuke retorted, vexed by the other's comment.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun! Naruto!" a very perky pink-haired student greeted as she practically hopped in the classroom, the rest of the class filing in after her. When she approached her usual table, she halted at the unappealing aroma surrounding it.

"Naruto, if you're going to fart, go outside or something! Sheesh," she commented, obviously disgusted. Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but Sakura continued to talk, this time to Sasuke. "My gosh, Sasuke-kun! You look so handsome today. N-not that you don't look good every day because you totally do. But I love what you did to your hair…" she rambled on. Soon, all of the girls in Kakashi-sensei's class swarmed around Sakura and Sasuke, also complimenting on his good looks and shooting Naruto disgusted looks when inhaling the repulsive air.

_'Are all of these girls just as oblivious to the smell of Sasuke's clothes as Sakura?'_ he screamed in his head, rolling his eyes at the pitiful sight. After thinking that, the bell rang, signaling the beginning of the second-to-last school day.

* * *

><p><em>Ring… ring… ring…<em>

"Hello?" Kakashi Hatake answered lazily into the telephone perched on top of his desk. He leaned back in his chair and lifted both of his legs up so that they were resting on the desk as well while his students were working in solitude.

"Please send Naruto Uzumaki to my office," the principal ordered from the other line.

Kakashi replied, "He's on his way, Tsunade-sama." After he hanged up, he called to Naruto, "Naruto, the principal would like to see you." He smirked, used to Naruto's weekly visits to the principal's office.

Naruto was used to them too, but he hated the punishments he received. As a dear friend of his godfather, Tsunade-sama made sure that Naruto's consequences were more ridiculous than some other student's would be. He found them torture, but she found them hilarious. "What did I do now, Kakashi-sensei? I've been good all week!" he groaned. His teacher just chuckled and dismissed the poor boy.

When he entered the principal's office, he recognized a figure lounging in front of her desk with light gray, unruly hair. It was Jiraiya, his godfather – he was sure of it. Tsunade looked up from her stack of papers briefly, motioning her expected troublemaker to the vacant chair next to Jiraiya.

"Granny Tsunade, what did I do?" Naruto whined.

Tsunade's attention was focused on her paperwork once again, not bothering to look up at Naruto to answer his question. "Jiraiya and I were discussing some things pertaining to you, Naruto." Her reply caused Naruto to blink several times, unsure of what was occurring. It was already peculiar to find his guardian there as he was never needed around when Tsunade gave the boy his assignments.

Arranging her papers in a neat stack, Tsunade cleared her throat before speaking. Shortly after, she said, "Jiraiya has informed me of his three-year journey to various places, thus being unable to care after yo—"

"But, Granny, Ero-sennin's _never_ home to take care of me. Why is it a problem now?" the sixth grader obtruded, referring to his guardian as the Perverted Hermit. Jiraiya cringed at the nickname he loathed while Tsunade massaged her temples, ready to burst at any moment. Instead of charging at Naruto, she exhaled a deep breath to calm her temper down.

"Anyways, Jiraiya will be travelling around the country for three years straight with no visits back home unlike his usual journeys. We can't have you, Naruto, alone for that long period of time without wreaking havoc so it's been arranged that you accompany Jiraiya for the summer before spending the next three years in boarding school," Tsunade-sama declared, grinning.

What was there to grin about though? She just announced that Naruto was leaving town to go to _boarding school_, a place that he specifically dreaded. Sure he's never actually been to one before, but he didn't want to start the upcoming school year. He didn't want to leave his friends either like Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Sakura… _Sakura_. He especially didn't want to abandon one of his best friends. The same person that he liked for seven years.

No. He couldn't let this happen, but what else was he supposed to do? Everything was settled already so the plans couldn't be altered. He would just have to deal with boarding school for the next three years… _'Oh shit. _Three_ years?'_

How was he supposed to break the news to Sakura? Sasuke was fine to tell to since he was moving anyways, but Naruto had no idea how to tell the other friend. _'Maybe she doesn't _have_ to know. At least from me. I'll tell Shikamaru and the rest of them and they can inform Sakura once middle school starts. That's perfect!' _he thought.

* * *

><p>The last day of sixth grade was hard to bear for Sakura. During class, all she ever thought about was Sasuke 'this' and Sasuke 'that,' anticipating for the bell to ring so she could carry on her mission of confessing to Sasuke. When the chorus of rings echoed in the Academy, she jumped and squealed from her seat, almost knocking it over from the excitement.<p>

As she exited the building, she attempted to scout her crush through the horde of people crowding around, saying 'see you around' or 'have a great summer' to their friends at the last minute. Only until the students cleared away did she find Sasuke, waiting for his ride.

"Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun!" she chanted. Leaning against the Academy gates, he craned his neck over to find his overly giddy friend jogging towards him. When Sakura approached him, he smiled gently. Too bad that would be the last time Sakura would see the breathtakingly cute smile that painted his face.

"Um, Sasuke-kun…"

She was going to miss Sasuke and everything about him terribly. She was going to miss his spiky, raven-colored hair and his dark eyes that didn't appear so malicious-looking whenever he was with real friends, along with his warm smile. She was going to miss his cool composure and gentlemanlike manners. She was even going to miss his bickers and squabbles with Naruto about who-knows-what. They amused her and made her giggle every day.

"Sasuke-kun…"

_ 'Dang it, Sakura, get a freaking hold of yourself. We've gone through this scenario plenty of times so why can't you just confess to Sasuke-kun right now?'_ the pink-haired girl's inner self shouted at her.

"Sas—"

"Hey, Sakura, could you hurry up please? My ride's waiting," Sasuke turned around to hold his index finger in the air, letting his father know to give him just a few more seconds.

_'All right, Sakura. You heard him. He has to go so just let it all out…'_

"I love you, Sasuke-kun! I've loved you since the first day of kindergarten and up until now. I love everything about you too. You're the most good-looking, talented, skilled, artistic, trustworthy, caring, and intelligent guy that I've ever known. I know you're moving to Oto tonight, but you should let me be your girlfr—"

"Sorry, Sakura. I'm not interested in relationships right now, especially the long-distance types. Plus, you're one of my best friends. I've never pictured you as more than that. Have a nice summer. Say bye to Naruto for me," Sasuke waved then placed both of his hands in his pockets, heading over to the Uchiha mobile.

When the vehicle pulled out of the curb, the girl finally started crying. Tears gushed from her dull-looking eyes like waterfalls. Her sobs she released were heavy and loud. Good thing she was the only student left outside the building for witnesses would've pitied the poor girl.

All of a sudden, Sakura felt someone embracing her from behind. She looked down at the arms hugging her, trying to make out through a blurred and teary vision which person the arms belonged to. Although she couldn't really see at the time, she did recognize carrot-colored sleeves.

"Naruto…" Sakura managed to choke out her best friend's name, but it came out all frail and raspy. She turned around; wiping her eyes, and saw a pair of shimmering blue eyes gazing into her bloodshot ones. Just when Naruto thought Sakura would slap him for surprisingly hugging her, she buried her face into his chest, crying even louder than before.

The boy patted his crush's back softly, trying to comfort her. He allowed her to soak the front of his jumpsuit up with her tears, not caring the least bit that it was his favorite piece of clothing. The two stood there for a while, still embracing each other. Naruto cherished the moment he had with Sakura for as long as possible.

* * *

><p>When school ended that day, he changed his mind about not telling Sakura about his bad news so he ran off to go find her in the crowd of summer-craving students. Eventually, he found her, only to be talking to Sasuke. Naruto didn't want to obtrude their conversation, hiding behind a nearby tree. At the sound of Sakura's confession, he balled his fists, wishing to be in Sasuke's shoes at the time. However, envy quickly transitioned to anger at Sasuke's words. He couldn't bear to see Sakura's devastated phase, rushing over to comfort her with a hug immediately.<p>

Now Naruto didn't have a choice. He couldn't possibly bring up his departure and the transfer to a different school right after Sasuke rejected her. The news would add on to the sadness she was pouring into his jumpsuit.

Right then, all he could do was pat her back, fingers brushing long strands of a pale shade of pink hair. "Everything will be all right, Sakura-chan. I'm here," he murmured softly, instantly wishing to take back his words for they were a lie. Judging from her current state, everything won't be all right. And Naruto was leaving the next day so really, he wasn't there for her.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** So for almost a year of not updating my first fic, I have finally come around to submitting the latest installment! I apologize for not updating quickly, but I was having the longest case of writer's block. I had the introduction to this chapter saved onto my computer for a year, opening the document up constantly to add more. However, I just didn't know what to say; I was running out of ideas. So without further ado, I present to you chapter five! R&R :)

Btw, for those of you who have read _To Win Their Hearts_ (another fic I wrote), I'm also working on finishing chapter two as well. If you haven't read that one yet, please do so! Out of the stories I have written so far, it's my favorite.

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><p><strong>Three years later…<strong>

"Oi, Sakura! Wait up, will you?" a very _lazy_ student called. He placed his hands behind his spiky ponytail, strolling slowly while his pink-haired friend was practically jogging.

The pink-haired girl then turned around, glaring at Shikamaru Nara. Shikamaru gulped, suddenly frightened by Sakura. After a few summers with Ino at medical camp and the gym, she entered sophomore year as a completely different girl. She appeared more independent compared to three years ago when she was obsessed with a certain Uchiha.

"Stop slacking off, Shikamaru! As part of Tsunade-sama's welcoming committee, we are to greet the Sunagakure transfer students," Sakura Haruno growled at the incredibly lazy genius following behind. She continued her rushed pace, ditching Shikamaru right when he caught up with her.

"How troublesome," he huffed to himself, speed-walking now.

When he met up with Sakura, Shikamaru found her fixing a red headband sitting on top of her short hair. It was still a surprise to him to see her once waist-length locks chopped off so that they rested atop her shoulders. Ino Yamanaka, Sakura's ex-rival, informed Shikamaru that Sakura cutting her hair was part of her Sasuke recovery.

"Shikamaru, quit looking so bored and fix your posture," Sakura demanded, slapping his back. Shikamaru flinched, straightening his back. He muttered something that probably went like 'what a troublesome girl' and shoved his hands down his pockets.

Soon after, the sophomores heard the sound of the school's front doors opening, followed by a couple of gasps and squeals coming from groups of girls near them. This signaled the arrival of the transfer students that Sakura and Shikamaru were expecting.

The girlish squeals increased when the welcoming committee finally got a good view of what the new kids looked like. There were three of them – two being males. One of the boys had scarlet-colored hair and pale green eyes. He had a tattoo slightly hidden underneath his hair. The other boy was taller than the first, sporting a black hoodie. As for the only female, she had blond hair divided into four ponytails and cold, teal eyes that did not look at all friendly.

"Hello and welcome to Konoha Academy! I'm Sakura Haruno and this is—"

"I can introduce myself, Sakura," Shikamaru intruded, not caring about first impressions. He also didn't notice Sakura's glare for interrupting her. "I'm Shikamaru."

"Yo. I'm Kankurou," the student wearing a hood over his head announced. "I'm in the twelfth grade. These two are my siblings." He flashed the welcoming committee a grin which a few girls passing by noticed and practically fainted at.

"I'm Gaara," the redhead brother said, emotionless. Sakura expected him to say more, but he remained silent after his introduction. His older sister, the blond, spoke in his place, revealing that Gaara was a tenth grader.

"And you are…?" Sakura asked the girl.

The sister's teal eyes widened, obviously surprised to hear such words come out of the sophomore's mouth. She cleared her throat, alerting the welcoming committee and her brothers that she was about to speak.

"I see no reason why my name should be shared, but since that Shika boy _is_ cute, I'll tell you," she said. Shikamaru blushed, but not too much that people would notice. However, the girl (who acted a little _too_ arrogant) saw his cheeks change color and smirked. "I'm Temari and I am no longer in high school. In fact, I graduated last year."

Sakura nodded in amazement and asked if she was at school to escort her brothers which Temari said yes to and added that she wished to speak to the principal, Tsunade-sama. Without hearing the pink-haired girl's answer, Temari walked off in a different direction, dragging a very irritated Nara and asking him which way to go.

"Um, Temari-san!" she tried calling after her. When it was clear that Temari wanted to be with Shikamaru, Sakura realized that there were two students that she had to guide. She turned to face the Suna boys, Gaara and Kankurou, and gave them her perky Sakura grin. "Okay then. It's just the three of us now! The first thing I'll do is show you two your classes."

* * *

><p>"Ero-sennin," a spiky-haired blonde groaned from the back of a car. "Are we there yet?" The fifteen year-old was getting impatient. He fiddled with a strand of blond hair, waiting for his godfather to answer the repeated question.<p>

"Geez, Naruto. We're almost there," replied the Perverted Hermit.

"But, Ero-sennin, that's what you said an _hour_ ago!" The boy grabbed a hold of the back of his godfather's seat and shook it violently. After spending five hours cooped up in the back of the car surrounded by bags and suitcases, Naruto was almost ready to explode. The excitement of returning to Konoha was building up inside the fifteen year-old. And according to Jiraiya, he and Naruto (plus their driver) would be arriving home soon.

Naruto's continuous whines went through the perverted godfather's ear and out the other. He hoped that Naruto would realize the suddenly increased amount of trees on either side of the highway, meaning that Konoha was only a few miles away. Unfortunately for him, Jiraiya's idiot of a godson didn't recognize anything and just continued pestering him with his nonstop whines.

Within the next ten minutes, the driver pulled up in front of an apartment complex. The building looked a bit old yet decent enough to house a few denizens. Jiraiya opened his door and climbed out, stretching his arms and sighing with relief. He stepped towards Naruto's side door, tapping the glass to let him know that they had arrived at their destination. When no one replied, Jiraiya peered through the window to find his godson drooling all over the luggage. This caused the old man to mutter a curse word under his breath as he grew impatient.

"Naruto, I'm going to kill you if you don't get up!" Jiraiya threatened, opening Naruto's door. Suitcases fell to the ground, resulting in a drowsy boy to whip his head up in bewilderment. Naruto scanned the scene surrounding the car, finding himself in front of a familiar building. He stepped out of the vehicle, lazily wiping the drool escaping from the corner of his mouth. "It was about time you woke up. I should have known that your constant yapping would eventually make you fall asleep," Jiraiya huffed, shoving a suitcase into Naruto's arms.

"Where are we?" the blonde asked in a dazed tone.

"What are you talking about, fool? We're in Konoha!"

"Indeed we are," the driver finally uttered a sentence.

At the sound of Jiraiya's words, Naruto's visage brightened and his expression went from exhaustion to excitement in just a matter of seconds. Dropping the luggage, the eager boy darted away from the spot and towards something far more important to him.

"Where are you going?" the white-haired man called after Naruto, flailing his arms in the air in hopes of retrieving the boy. He had an idea of where the boy was going, but he figured that he would somehow return to help settle back in to their former apartment.

Instead, Naruto Uzumaki continued running down the road and shouted, "I'm starting my sophomore year today – I'm going to Konoha Academy!"

The distance between the school and Naruto's apartment complex was short. Back when he was a small child, Naruto would often walk by himself to the elementary school that was later renovated to hold grades kindergarten to twelve. Something simple like getting to school wasn't an activity that required Jiraiya's help so Naruto made sure that he wouldn't intrude his so-called "busy" day set for writing a novel.

Miniscule groups of students were waiting outside for class to begin while others casually chatted with their buddies as they walked through the entrance. _Okay, that's good. I made it with a few minutes to spare_. The teenager sighed, wiping beads of sweat from his forehead. Starting a new school year on the right foot, Naruto opened the double doors leading into the Academy and held a giant grin.

Until he bumped into a total stranger and fell to the ground, landing on his butt.

The spiky-haired tenth grader rubbed his butt, feeling the pain from the fall. With his free hand, he used it to ruffle his blond hair a bit, not even aware of the irritated female getting up and brushing the dirt off of her outfit. She glared at Naruto, waiting for him to notice her and give her an apology. But since this _was_ Naruto that she was dealing with, he didn't.

So the girl cleared her throat, putting the spotlight on herself.

"Um? What?" Naruto inquired, getting up and shoving his hands in his pockets. His butt no longer hurt so he wanted to go to class, but the girl before him obviously wanted something to do with Naruto.

"Since your barbarous self rammed into me, I want an apology," the female proclaimed, a snappy tone escaping from her lips. While Naruto just stared at her, dumbfounded, she adjusted a dirty blond ponytail – one of many she had.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and simply said 'sorry' before heading off to a place that he missed. As a result, Temari, the eldest sibling amongst the transfer students, glared daggers at him and stormed out the school. Naruto, with little care towards the irascible stranger, skipped to a place where most students would label as horrifying. However, after being gone for three years, it became as one of the student's most missed places.

The principal's office.

"Please, Kiba. It's the first day of school. Why are you doing this to me?" Tsunade-sama said to one of the students, a brunette who used to be one of the biggest troublemakers alongside Naruto. When Naruto approached the principal's office, he heard Tsunade's voice, followed by a bark.

"Akamaru?" Naruto said excitedly, opening the door to the office rapidly. Sitting behind a humongous mahogany desk was Granny Tsunade, accompanied by Kiba Inuzuka and… a dog? No really – a large white beast was in the chair beside Kiba.

"Naruto?" Tsunade-sama's voice sounded confused with a slight perk to it.

"Whoa, Naruto! Is that you?" Kiba and the creature jumped out of their seats.

The Uzumaki chuckled, pulling Kiba in for one of those "manly" hugs. He turned to face Akamaru before the dog attacked him playfully, sending Naruto falling on his butt once more. At once, Akamaru slobbered all over Naruto, covering him in saliva. Naruto groaned, but laughed it off. Meanwhile, Tsunade-sama did not look pleased anymore as she overlooked the mess created in her office.

"You've gotten so big!" the blonde praised Akamaru, trying to push him off of his chest. Akamaru leaped back onto his original seat, leaving white fur on Naruto's clothes. Naruto got up right away only to discover the horrid look on Tsunade's visage. "H-hey, Granny!"

"Na-ru-to," the principal growled, adding an extra emphasis to each syllable in the blond student's name. "How could I have been so foolish," she said, shaking her head. "This is a brand new school year. I thought my plan would follow through and the day would run smoothly and in a nice, orderly manner. But Kiba just had to bring Akamaru along and you—"

"Me?" Naruto asked, pointing at himself guiltily.

"Yes, you!" Tsunade-sama continued. "You just had to pop into my office all of a sudden and ruin my surroundings." The principal concluded her rant, plopping into her chair with a hefty sigh. Naruto and Kiba blinked a few times while Akamaru pouted. Tsunade glanced at the rowdy trio, thinking for a second that they actually felt guilty thanks to her venting.

"Now that you all have settl—"

"It's okay, Granny. I missed you too!" the biggest troublemaker declared, running behind the principal's desk to give her a bear hug. Tsunade took a deep breath and gave up, hugging the student back.

"So, Naruto, when did you get back?" Tsunade asked when Ms. Inuzuka retrieved Kiba's dog much to his dismay. She organized a stack of disheveled papers, looking at the sophomore in curiosity.

"Not too long ago," recalled Naruto. "Actually, I ditched helping out Ero-sennin to come to school."

The principal stifled a small giggle, remembering her friend. "You are _so_ considerate, but do you realize that you can't stay in my office for the rest of the day? If you came to school, you need to do what everyone else came here to do – learn."

"But—"

"Who knows, you might even have a class or two with Sakura," said Tsunade with her pupils glued to her paperwork. She was already aware of Naruto's crush on her apprentice; most of the Academy's faculty did after observing the troublemaker during his elementary school days years ago. Without looking up, the principal already knew that Naruto darted out of the office to pick up his class schedule and search for his best friend. "That idiot," she mumbled.

"Kakashi-sensei teaches high schoolers now? Cool," Naruto said to himself, scanning his schedule. He spent nearly half the day in the principal's office according to the piece of paper. It said that he was supposed to be in third period at the moment and third period was almost over. It was to be the students' lunch period soon then fourth period where Naruto would spend with his former teacher, Kakashi Hatake.

After wandering around aimlessly, Naruto decided to wait beside the cafeteria doors until the dismissal bell rang. Whistling to occupy his time, the spiky-haired boy didn't notice a certain Hyuuga panting just around the corner.

"N-Naruto-kun is really, really here?" Hinata Hyuuga whispered. She needed to use a rest room so her teacher dismissed her five minutes before the bell. She didn't realize that on the way to her destination, she would see her long-time crush.

Hinata's heart beat three times as fast as it normally would. Her face, which was usually pale, turned a bright shade of red. If someone passed by and spotted the girl, then he/she would deduce that Hinata was ill when really, she wasn't. _It's been three years since I've seen Naruto. I need to gather up the courage and say hi. Okay, Hinata? That's all you need to do is smile and say—_

"Hey, Hinata-chan!" a cheeky teenager greeted.

"N-N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata stammered, fainting.

Naruto stepped to the side, careful not to accidentally step on Hinata. The poor girl laid on the wooden floor, her visage beet red. Naruto picked her up and propped her against the wall so she wouldn't remain in an uncomfortable position. He then stood up, putting his arms behind his head, and grinned. _Man, she never changes, huh?_

All of a sudden, the bell rang, ending third period. Students filed into the vacant hallways to gather around for lunch. Due to the loud rings, Hinata regained consciousness and freaked out again when seeing Naruto's grown self. _Oh my. Can three years away from town make someone so handsome?_

"Sweet, Naruto. You found Hinata," the dog lover called. Kiba Inuzuka approached them with Shino Aburame closely behind. "Do you remember this guy?"

Shino stood before the blonde, showing no expressions whatsoever. He was wearing dark green clothes (a hooded jacket and shoes) and black shorts. He still owned glasses, using them to cover his face along with the hood.

"No, not really," said the Uzumaki with an apologetic tone.

If Shino actually revealed his face to others, the group would see a frown appear as well as his eyebrows furrow. However, Hinata and Kiba didn't need to witness those signs to tell that their beloved comrade was upset.

"I can't believe you forgot about me," Shino spoke in his deep voice. "Why? Because if a friend runs off for three years, he would usually remember the people he calls his friends."

Naruto cocked his head, raising his eyebrows. _What did this guy just say?_ "I feel like I do know you… Hm. Deep voice, annoying way of talking…" Naruto said with no intention in being rude. Too bad he sounded that way. In response to his words, Shino roamed off to the cafeteria.

"I got it! You're Shino!" Naruto turned to face the boy, but he was already gone. "Where did he go?"

"He probably went to sulk," answered Kiba, shrugging his shoulders. "Let's go, Hinata." The duo abandoned the blonde, searching for their sensitive friend in the lunchroom.

Right when Naruto was about to make another move the sound of his stomach grumbling echoed throughout the corridor. Mortified, he clutched his belly which kept growling as if put on loop. "I need some grub!" he stated, hurrying to the doors.

The sophomore picked up his speed almost as if he needed to use the rest room and could not hold in his "number two" any longer. Unfortunately for him, when people rush things, there are negative outcomes. Plunging in through the double doors, Naruto had no time to stop himself before he crashed into a crowd of students – one of them having light pink hair.


End file.
